Last August I acquired a 1986 GTS Coupe and since I am now making actual progress I have decided to start a build log. I always drove past the car on my way home but until recently I was not aware of what it actually was. Soon after I discovered that it was in fact an AE86 I went over to ask if the owner was willing to sell it, since it had been sitting in his front yard for a few years now. Expecting some crazy initial D tax I was stunned when he said $200. He explained to me that the fuel pump was broken but it would crank over with starting fluid, and sure enough I grabbed some starting fluid and it fired up almost immediately. So a quick trip to the atm and $200 later it was mine, they guy even towed it to my house for free.How the car sat when I bought it, Courtesy of GoogleI was later informed that the owner had actually been traded the car in return for yardwork , and that the car had come to Va from Texas about 6 years ago so luckily it is almost rust free. Since the original owner lived in the same neighbor hood I was also able to learn from him that it was just his family car, and that he learned that they are sought after a few years after he got rid of it. So I have managed to get one of the few AE86's that have not been beaten on or stripped into racecars, even better it only has 135k miles on it so I am hoping the engine will still have some life left in it, as well as the LSD, which is still working so far.Pics when I got it homeafter a bath, looking a bit betterand the interior after a good clean, I have since replaced that ghetto rigged belt with an original one.

So far I have replaced both the clutch master and slave cylinder, as well as the rubber clutch hose, the brake booster, and master cylinder. I also rebuilt the front brake calipers and replaced all the rubber brake hoses.Unfortunately the gas tank was in pretty rough shape, it looks as though the previous owner attempted to replace the bad fuel pump but only got as far as cutting/disconnecting the hoses . so when I dropped the tank and pulled out the fuel pump unit this is what i saw.unfortunately just as bad in the tankI was able to clean up the pump bracket and install a new pump, as well as clean up the outside and the contacts on the fuel level sending unitand I was able to get the gunk, and most of the rust out of the tank using some cleaning chemicals from KBS and a lot of shaking, pics are from about halfway through with the cleaningsince the flex line on the fuel sending line had been cut and a replacement seemed to be impossible to find I replaced it with -AN fittings and braided SS hoseNext up is suspension, I already have a set of TRD 6Kg front 5.1Kg rear springs, with some KYB AGX mr2/camaro shocks to go with them which should be installed early march, as well as replacement driver side hinges. The exhaust system is next on the list since it appears that it was replaced with the exhaust from an sr5 and the muffler looks like thisIm going with 2" from the cat back with an 18" glasspack in the middle as a resonator and just a cheap muffler for now. If anyone has experience with a similar exhaust comments would be appreciated, I do not want something that will be loud, and I am hoping that this setup with a nicer muffler will be a good blend of performance without being annoyingly loud.

New parts are ready to go in! TRD 6gk front, 5.1kg rear with rear sw20, and camaro AGX shocks to go with them.As well as new driver side hinges to replace the horribly worn originalsHere is how the car sits right now on what I am assuming is the stock setup and 195 60 14 tires.

grappletech wrote:Great car! Great find. That tank was looking atrocious im glad that you are cleaning it up... If you dont mind me asking, where did you source your springs from?

I got the springs through classifieds I forgot if it was through club4ag or hachiroku.net

I was able to install the rear shocks and springs no problem, but unfortunately I was not able to get the front done since it seems to be impossible to remove the top strut nut without an impact wrench, any tips? Ill probably just take it to a shop and see if they will loosen it up for me, as long as they aren't going to charge me something outrageous.

Here is how the rear is sitting now. I swapped to the dirty spare because for some reason the one on there was a different size than the rest.

A quick trip to the local shop and they where able to zip off the strut nuts in second. I decided to go with a spacer on top of the strut cartridge and I ended up just cutting the top off of the old kyb's that I pulled out. I figured that using the top of the old one would work better than just a tube or washers since it still has the old seals in it so it should keep dirt and water from building up on top of the strut. If my logic is way off or if anyone has run into problems doing this please let me know.

Heres the top section of the old strut that I used as a spacer.and here is how its sitting now, new tires are top priority since right now the rears are 195 65 14 and the front is running 195 60 14, so with new tires the rear should match up to the front a bit better

Mankow wrote:A quick trip to the local shop and they where able to zip off the strut nuts in second. I decided to go with a spacer on top of the strut cartridge and I ended up just cutting the top off of the old kyb's that I pulled out. I figured that using the top of the old one would work better than just a tube or washers since it still has the old seals in it so it should keep dirt and water from building up on top of the strut. If my logic is way off or if anyone has run into problems doing this please let me know.

Heres the top section of the old strut that I used as a spacer.and here is how its sitting now, new tires are top priority since right now the rears are 195 65 14 and the front is running 195 60 14, so with new tires the rear should match up to the front a bit better

Sup dude, a very nice find! Lovin da coupe! Congrats!Got a question for you. Can you somehow do a SHOCKS and SPRINGS How to INSTALL?I've been wanting to install my Swifts Springs, & Kyb agx Shocks for a while now.Shops always want an arm and a leg for labor. Just a quick pointers installing fronts and the rears would be cool to get me started. Thx dude!

Projects looking great! That's a nice idea cutting the old shock top & using it as a spacer..I may consider doin this..Still waiting on my new agx's to come in too..been a month, want to get this done already!

Finally got a new exhaust to replace the sr5 pipe and cheapo autozone 2" turbo. I didnt take any pictures putting it on. I was able to convince a local shop to let me borrow a lift for a bit so I was kinda rushed. anyway took some pics of how it sits now.I ended up going with the stock GTS exhaust, I was able to get it through the dealership cause although its listed online none of the places would ship it to my house. and if they did shipping was over $100 so It ended up being around the dame to get it from dealership, plus i got it in 4 days.

Here you areEarl's 581905 Aluminum -5AN Tube Sleeves Earl's 581805 Aluminum -5AN Tube Nuts Earl's 991907erl Union Reducer, Male -6 AN to Male -5 AN, MaleEarl's -6 AN Hose to Female -6 AN 300106ERLthe hose was just -6 AN braided Stainless Steel hose I would double check those part numbers cause I didnt actually have the part numbers saved for some stupid reason I saved a spread sheet of just the descriptionshttps://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_JfWpO7jUPbQTFJOEt6ZEdpTFU/edit?usp=sharingI think i got most of that from Jegs ebay site cause they had free shipping, if you have any more questions just let me know.

Decided to paint my valve covers, so I went with the high temp wrinkle blackHere is how they startedafter being cleaned upI realized I couldnt keep the dirty spark plug cover so it went from thisto thisand the final resultI should probably get new spark plug wires cause the blue doesnt really go with the new colors

Im definitely going to have to pull the plastic trim off of the front, cause it rubs if I turn at all. Im going to try just that, but I may have to resort to pulling the fenders a bit. But thats just an excuse to put overfenders on later and run some wider tires.

Yeah I just pulled the front fender trim off, and rolled the inside lip flat I didnt pull it out or anything and no more rubbing around corners

Last edited by Mankow on Mon Mar 10, 2014 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.